


Fixing the Blanket

by Zoadgo



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 10:18:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4956499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoadgo/pseuds/Zoadgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of 10K/Cassandra drabbles</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a crosspost collection, so I won't be putting notes at the end of any of these, but if you want to check out my [tumblr](http://jonnmurphy.tumblr.com), I always love chatting with you guys! These are all unbeta'd, and I'll try to put major warnings in the summaries, alongside the prompt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quote prompt: 50. Writer’s preference (10k and Cassandra “We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?”)

They got separated from the main group 3 days and 107 zombie kills ago. At first, Cassandra and 10k had been desperate to get back to Doc, Warren, Addy, and Mack, but as the days passed, they realized they were doing just fine without them. Being part of a group for so long had made them forget that they’d managed on their on, for a time. So now, although they’re still trying to reconnect with their friends, they don’t have a frantic worry fueling every movement.

Except for right now, of course, because they had been outrunning a brewing storm on a motorcycle, Cassandra’s recklessness as a driver carrying them away from it without losing time due to following such ridiculous things as roads. But, in the true manner of the world post Z, their bike had run out of gas before they’d actually managed to find decent shelter, which is how 10k finds that sense of urgency returning as they run across a thankfully Z free field, hoping to find a farmhouse or something before the storm hits. Lightning will kill them just as easily as a Z, or at least it’ll kill him, and 10k does not want to test to see what the bounds of Cassandra’s new strength and durability are.

10k thinks he sees a shelter in the distance, and he grabs Cassandra’s hand to pull her along faster as the first few drops of rain fall to the sound of thunder, never mind the fact that she’s running directly next to him. She squeezes his hand slightly in response, throwing him a wild grin and running a little faster. The rain begins to fall properly, and 10ks concern turns to his gun and Cassandra before himself. A clap of thunder sounds above the constant background rumbling, and a flash of lighting seems to frighten moisture from the clouds, a deluge falling on them and soaking them to the skin in seconds. 10k raises his hands above his head in a ridiculously futile attempt to stay dry, considering he’s already soaked, and Cassandra stops dead in her tracks.

“What are you doing?!” 10k shouts over the fury of the storm, dropping his arms and staring at Cassandra as she spins in a slow circle, face turned up to the sky with a wide smile on her face, and not the almost feral grin she usually wears these days. She stops her turning facing him, and jogs the few steps she had put between them, grabbing his hands with a light laugh.

“The rain! 10K, don’t you want to just stop and feel it?” 10k stares at her in disbelief, shaking his head but not taking his eyes off of hers.

“We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?” Cassandra simply smiles and nods, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, and suddenly 10k doesn’t think that the rain is quite so cold anymore.

“It feels good, doesn’t it? Clean.” And she’s not wrong, as the water pours over the both of them, 10k feels less grimy by the second. They hadn’t had a shower in ages, and despite his shivering, 10k gives himself over to enjoying the moment. Cassandra drops her hands and runs them over his forearms in an attempt to warm him slightly before shaking her head with a small smile and stepping forward.

10k wraps his arms around her, feeling her unnatural heat, the very thing that had convinced him she was not a zombie, but something else entirely. No walking corpse could ever be so warm in his arms, or look up at him with such joy and fire in its eyes. Her feels her arms wrap around the back of his neck, and then Cassandra’s lips press against his softly, and 10k stops shivering. She allows him to deepen the kiss, conscious of the fact that her hunger can make her lose control on occasion, and they stand in the pouring rain for a long time. In that moment, they’re both quite happy to be on their own, so long as they have each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quote prompt: 44. “If you die, I’m gonna kill you.”

Cassandra isn’t afraid of Zs anymore, not since she became… whatever she is. And she’s confident that 10K has never feared the monsters, not when he’s as good a shot as he is and smart enough to know when he’s outnumbered. They almost become comfortable in their patrols in each new city, when they hunt out food for the group together and increase 10K’s kill count.They’re never careless, of course, but between the two of them, the Zs never stand a chance.

So it stands to reason, of course, that the first thing to actually injure one of them would be something benign and unremarkable. Like a brick falling from an unmaintained building in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, a town so small that there weren’t even any Zs that any of them could find, but there was enough food and water left in the stores that the team had decided to stay awhile. Cassandra is turning back to smile at 10K when the brick is dislodged by a breeze and the passing of time, and even though she’s faster than she had been before Murphy bit her, she’s not fast enough. She watches the brick fall and smack into 10K’s head with a sickening thump, running to him as his eyes roll back in his head and he collapses.

Cassandra’s not quite sure which curse word she shouts as she catches him just before he hits the ground, but she feels it in her heart as she lowers him carefully, not seeing any blood immediately and not trusting that in the least. She doesn’t know where Doc is exactly, other than somewhere else in the town, and she can’t leave 10K here or move him to go hunt for help. She rips her sweater off to make a makeshift pillow for 10K and shakes his shoulder gently, not wanting to hurt him.

“Doc!” She shouts that toward the main street as loud as she can and really hoping that the fact they hadn’t seen any Zs yet meant that there weren’t any, and not that they’re just waiting for someone defenseless to call out for help. She softens her voice as she turns her attention back to 10K, who’s always pale, but never this frighteningly white. “Hey, come on, you’ve gotta wake up.”

That fails to wake him, perhaps unsurprisingly, and after checking for a pulse which she easily find, Cassandra shakes his shoulder more firmly. He still doesn’t respond, and desperation feels almost like anger and hunger in Cassandra’s core, prompting her to push herself away from 10K’s shoulder and kick the building that had hurt him, needing to redirect her emotions without damaging him.

“Doc!” She screams at the street again, and she thinks she hears feet approaching, but she turns back to 10K at the sound of a gentle groan. His brow is furrowed and his eyes are clenched shut, but he moves slightly and Cassandra drops to her knees beside him again with tears in her eyes. “Come on, wake up, 10K.”

“No.” It’s more than half a groan, and sounds more like a petulant child than a probably concussed zombie hunter, but it fills Cassandra with joy. She shakes her head with a smile and smacks his shoulder lightly.

“Stay awake, Tommy. If you die, I’m gonna kill you.” There are definitely footsteps rushing up the street now, and Cassandra looks up just long enough to see Warren and Doc turn off of the main street and up the alley they’re in.

10K groans again and opens his eyes to look at her, wincing and clearly in pain, but still attempting a smile. “I never should have told you my name.”

“Nope. See, you have to live, ‘cause who’s going to stop me from telling everyone you’re real name if you’re not here.” He smacks her leg, really more just letting his hand fall against her jeans, and Cassandra grabs it from where he lets it lay, holding it for comfort for herself or for him, she’s not sure. “And you absolutely can’t die from a brick to the head, you’ve gotta at least give me a story to tell the next idiot that attaches himself to me.”

10K laughs for a second before his face distorts in pain at the movement, and then Doc is scolding her, telling Warren to keep him still and asking Cassandra what happened. She shifts over as she explains the whole ridiculous situation, allowing Doc to examine 10K and diagnose him as “Probably concussed, he’ll either be fine or dead.”

10K says he would rather be fine than dead, and Cassandra agrees with him. She continues to hold his hand while they move him to a more easily guarded location where Addy and Mack have found some food for them, and Cassandra keeps him awake through the night, threatening him with his name whenever his eyes close longer than a blink. He complains constantly, and doesn’t mean a word of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quote prompt: 17. “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…” and 18. “This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had. Of course I’m in.”
> 
> **Warning: Drug Use**

Going into a town was a bad idea, 10K knew that from the moment he suggested it, but he also knew it was necessary. Cassandra didn’t consume much beyond Z Weed, but he did, and he desperately needed some food which he was hoping would be easily found within the broken down buildings. Of course, nothing is ever easy when you travel with someone who draws the attention of Zs simply by existing.

It took about five minutes before the first Z spotted them, and then their freakish hive mind took over, and 10K and Cassandra were running. Zombies are faster when they’re hungry than any dead thing has a right to be, and it seems to 10K like they’re even quicker than normal lately. Nothing seems to obey the messed up rules of the apocalypse since the nukes fell. 10K shakes his head to clear the concept of sprinting zombies from it and follows Cassandra around a corner.

“You first, go!” Cassandra gestures at a rusted metal ladder attached to a building, and 10K doesn’t need more prompting than that. He sprints past her and immediately begins climbing the ladder to a set of stairs. It makes sense for her to take up the rear, given that she’s still immune to the zombie virus, and 10K is in the same boat as the rest of humanity.

They ascend quickly once they hit the stairs, although the structure itself seems to protest their presence by rattling unnervingly. 10K is relatively confident he hears anchoring bolts falling out of the wall, but it’s difficult to tell over the sounds of Zs immediately below them, frantically trying to reach up to their next meal. They should be safe on the fire escape, out of the reach of the zombies, but 10K still feels nervous as they continue up to the roof.

Reaching the roof is a relief, and 10K takes a moment to regain his breath as Cassandra climbs over the edge and stands next to him, her own breath even, but her posture slightly crouched and almost feral. It takes a few moments, but as 10K’s heart rate slows, Cassandra straights and looks more composed. It had concerned 10K the first few times she had seemed to lapse back into the state she’d been in with Murphy, but he has since learned it’s simply her reaction to adrenaline. It makes her feel things more intensely and react more violently, but she’s still Cassandra.

“Zombies can’t climb, right?” Cassandra’s words are slightly panicked as she looks over the edge of the building, and 10K sees the reasons for her concern when he spares the hoard below a glance of his own. They definitely seem to be closer than they ought to be.

“Well that’s new.” Of course they could climb now, Murphy’s ongoing presence in the world seemed to have new side effects each day. 10K jogs to the other side of the roof and inspect the gap between it and the next building before running back. “If we can take out this fire escape and wait for the Zs to leave, we can jump to the next roof and get down that way.”

“That’s your plan? Destroy our way down, jump over a 10 story drop, and hope the Zs aren’t waiting on the other side?”

“Yeah, you in?”

“This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had. Of course I’m in.” Cassandra’s smile is just one hair short of vicious, and 10K hopes it’s at the prospect of destroying things. He smiles back and grabs an adjustable wrench from one of the seemingly bottomless pockets in his pants, setting to work on removing rusted bolts from crumbling bricks.

It seems to take far too long, with Cassandra glancing anxiously over the side and the sound of hollow groaning growing closer at an alarming rate. But eventually the last of the stubborn bolts gives way, and 10K stands with a triumphant grunt, nodding to Cassandra and grabbing hold of the rusted metal. They begin rocking it back and forth, hearing it groan and creak louder that the encroaching hoard the more that it moves. The metal begins to bend, and 10K wishes he could take credit for it, but he knows it’s likely mostly Cassandra’s doing. Regardless, he doubles his efforts.

With a crash that doubtlessly draws everything within a hundred miles to their location, the fire escape finally gives and falls from the building to the street below. Cassandra peers over the side eagerly, and 10K goes to check on the main street to see how much attention their stunt drew. A quick glance shows him more zombies than he cares to contemplate, so he resolutely turns away from the view.

“Looks like we’ll be trapped here for a while…” 10K sighs as he shakes his arms out to attempt to alleviate some of the strain of destroying the fire escape. Disrepair had started the process, but it still wasn’t an easy task to complete.

Cassandra hums in agreement and turns away from alley, sliding down the waist level wall around the edge of the roof and leaning her back against it. 10K walks over and sits next to her, not too close in case her reactions are still high from the chase, but close enough that they can talk without their voices filtering to the street below and keeping the hoard’s attention. He doesn’t attempt to initiate a conversation, however, simply shrugs his rifle off his shoulder and lays it next to him, settling himself more comfortably.

Cassandra rummages through her pockets, and 10K knows what she’s looking for without having to actually see what she pulls from them. A solar powered vaporizer and Z Weed, apparently the only things responsible for allowing her to think clearly again. She doesn’t need it as much, these days, but she still enjoys it when they have a chance to relax. She says it affects her almost like smoking pot had back when she was fully human, now, rather than simply allowing her to feel human for a while. 10K hears her breathe in deeply, accompanied by the slight fizzle of the vape, and he smiles to himself. It’s selfish, but he enjoys when she smokes, because she tends to fall asleep curled up against his side.

“Hey, 10K?” Cassandra’s voice is soft, and he turns his head slightly to find her already looking at him, wisps of smoke curling away from her face and dissipating into the air. She gestures her vape at him, “Have you ever tried this?”

“Z Weed?” 10K snorts a laugh and shakes his head, fixing his gaze on his knee closest to her. “No, never tried any of that stuff. Didn’t have a chance before all this, and now I don’t think I could. Couldn’t risk letting my guard down, not knowing ow it would affect me, you know?”

“Do you want to try it now?” 10K looks up at Cassandra at that, and he must look confused about if she hadn’t heard what he just said, or something, because she continues, “You said it yourself, we’ll be stuck here for a while. And I say that if the Zs can find us, figure out what other building they can climb nearby, and jump over a gap to get us, we’re doomed anyway.”

10K feels his pulse pick up again at the prospect of trying something so new and foreign to him, and he licks his lips nervously. Part of him still wants to say that it’s a bad idea, but the rest of him wants to know if he’ll have the courage to cuddle back when Cassandra curls up against him later. And he has to admit that he’s curious about all the things he never had a chance to try before the apocalypse happened. He nods his head shakily, and Cassandra smiles, which is almost good enough all on its own.

“So, um, what’s the best way to do this?” 10K asks, and Cassandra’s smile only grows.

“I’ll show you.” 10K is confused when she stands up, and even more confused when she kneels next to his hip. He doesn’t resist when she wraps her hand around the back of his neck and pulls him closer to her, so their faces are just inches apart. “Like this, all you have to do is open your mouth and breathe in.”

10K is frozen for a moment by the sudden feeling of intimacy to the exercise, and in that moment Cassandra brings the vaporizer to her mouth with her free hand. He almost forgets her instructions, simple as they were, stunned by the proximity of her, the intensity of her eyes, and how her lips look so incredibly soft. He remembers when she strokes her thumb along the back of his jaw with a little pressure, however, and he obediently opens his mouth in response. As soon as he does so, Cassandra opens her own and moves even closer to him, their lips just barely not touching, and he inhales on reflex as she blows the smoke to him. For the moment, it is absolutely perfect, and 10K is confident saying yes to this is the best decision he’s made in a long time.

The smoke feels different in his lungs than the cigarettes he’d grown to find comfort in, but it’s not unpleasant. Cassandra leans back a little and 10K releases it up into the sky, watching the curling patterns until they fade entirely. When they do, he returns his attention to Cassandra, enjoying her smile and returning it with one of his own.

“Can we do that again?” 10K wants to feel the heat of her breath on him again, and he’s disappointed when she shakes her head, even though she begins stroking the back of his neck with her thumb.

“Not yet, give it a few minutes. There is something else we can do that you might enjoy, though.”

“What’s that?” 

Cassandra simply smiles and leans forwards again, but this time she lays the vaporizer on the rooftop next to them, bringing that hand up to cup his jaw. She presses her lips to his, and 10K no longer has to imagine how soft they are, he knows for himself that they’re a little chapped around the edges, but it feels exactly the way that Cassandra should. He feels her smile against his lips, and then she pulls hers away, resting their foreheads together for a moment instead.

“You know you’re supposed to move your lips, right?” There’s good humour in her voice, and 10K shakes his head slightly in her grasp.

“Oh, right.” It had been a very long time since the last person he’d kissed, and he’d never done it with this delightful haze in his mind that he can only assume is courtesy of the Z Weed. “Do over?”

Once again, Cassandra responds with her lips on his, and this time 10K brings his own hand up to stroke his thumb along her jaw as their lips move together, resting it on her shoulder. Cassandra’s hand falls from his jaw to trace down his chest slowly as she swipes her tongue across his lips, and 10K never thought he would be thanking a zombie hoard mentally, but he does so as he lightly drags his teeth on her lower lip and and feels her sigh happily into the kiss. That moment gets filed away with the rest of his happiest experiences, a startling small mental folder that he’s hoping he can have a chance to fill, if Cassandra will help him. And given her responses, she seems inclined to do just that


End file.
